American Idol Kris Allen Visits The Salvation Army In Haiti: American Idol featured Kris’s visit as a fund-raiser for the Idol Gives Back charity

Alexandria, VA – Courtesy of the United Nations, Kris Allen, the 2009 winner of American Idol, recently visited Haiti. The visit’s intention was to bring awareness to the work in Haiti as well as the continued need for support in the ongoing efforts to help those affected by the January 12 earthquake.
The Salvation Army camp in Port-Au-Prince was chosen as one of four locations for Kris to tour while on his whirlwind visit.

The camp is currently home to more than 4,000 Haitian families. Kris toured the camp, visited with staff, and played with children as well as communicated with camp residents through an interpreter.

The Salvation Army and our partner agency on the camp, Concern Worldwide, met with the most recent American Idol. Damaris Frick, Camp Manager from The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters and Major Cedric Hills, Incident Commander for Organization represented The Salvation Army and provided information to Kris as he toured the camp. He was also introduced to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Camp Committee. (The Camp Committee is formed of Haiti citizens who help provide leadership and act as liaisons for the camp residents).

During Kris’ visit, he met with Major Agnes Wahli who was busy with the registration process and issuing new ration cards as part of the new UPS Trackpad program. The Salvation Army is replacing handwritten paper index cards with high-tech barcode technology to ensure that families receive food, shelter and medical supplies in a highly efficient manner. UPS donated the technology and adapted it for disaster relief supply distribution. This technology will allow Salvation Army staff members to be able to confirm what goods each family receives by tracking the information embedded in a laminated card that bears unique barcodes associated with the family. Kris even helped with one of the registrations!

Kris’ visit ended after chatting with Concern Worldwide and visiting their mother and infant tent and singing Amazing Grace.   Last Thursday’s American Idol results show on Fox featured Kris’s visit as a fund-raiser for the Idol Gives Back charity.

Bloomington Officer Plays Key Role In Relief Efforts

Via Peter Iversen – Bloomington Salvation Army Corp

Lt. Jonathan Fitzgerald has eclipsed his half-way point in Haiti, and international generosity has been keeping him busy.

Spending most of the day ensuring supplies are shipped to the area of greatest need, Lt. Jonathan and his team of local Haitians, the U.N. and the United States military are the link between the cargo plane and the residents of tent cities. Arriving on enormous pallets, The Salvation Army ships meals, medical supplies, tents and other necessary items. From there, the supplies are trucked to multiple centers of aid throughout the country.

The largest center is in Port-au-Prince where The Salvation Army oversees the wellbeing of 20,000 Haitians living on the grounds of what used to be a soccer stadium. Lt. Jonathan spent some time walking through that tent city and what he saw was encouraging. People were smiling and going about their lives as best they could. As someone who has travelled throughout the country before, Lt. Jonathan notes that life is returning to a degree of normalcy. His presence in Haiti as a young officer who speaks the language and understands the culture makes recovery a more relational process and Haitians appreciate the work of The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army has been in Haiti since 1950 and was able to immediately respond to the earthquake. That response is ongoing as the shipments, which Lt. Jonathan and his team oversee, are still arriving in large numbers because the need is still great.

The Salvation Army’s efforts to feed and care for these families in Haiti depends on your donations. Please consider sending a donation today by using the Haiti donation button located in the upper left-hand corner of our website, or by texting “Haiti” to 52000 and $10 will be added to your monthly bill.

Bloomington Officer Making Progress in Haiti

Via Peter Iverson in Bloomington – Lt. Jonathan Fizgerald, the Bloomington Corps Officer, works in the brutally hot heat of Port-au-Prince where he is in charge of logistics and distribution for food and other supplies in the tent city of 20,000 that The Salvation Army oversees. Helping the local economy, he hires local Haitians to assist. The security is provided by the United States military, which makes the distributions run smoothly.

Beyond food, Lt. Fitzgerald and other relief workers are helping to prepare the region for the upcoming rainy season. With so many people living on a soccer field, the health and property risks are great. So, The Salvation Army will distributed tarps which will replace the tents made of sheets. The Salvation Army is also working on improving the sanitation for those living in the tent city.

The Salvation Army has been hard at work since the earthquake hit and in the first month of the disaster delivered 558,000 pounds of relief supplies for the suffering people of Haiti. “The logistical precision of this operation is amazing,” remarked Major George Polarek, Assistant Director of The Salvation Army’s World Services Office.

To date 2.6 million meals, nearly 3,000 tents, and 8,710 pounds of medical supplies were delivered to Haiti. In addition to Port-au-Prince where Lt. Jonathan serves, service sites are located in Petit Goave and Jacmel and distribution sites are in Croix-des-Bouquets (6 mi east of PAP) and Balan (18 mi east of PAP). Its medical clinic continues to treat more than 250 people a day on-site, with several transfers daily to the hospital.

Donations are still needed to continue with the relief efforts in Haiti. For online donations, visit salvationarmyindiana.org. You can also text “Haiti” to 52000 to make a one time $10 donation which will be added to your phone bill.

Welcome Home From Haiti

For four weeks Jerry Larsen and Capt. Geff Crowell lived and worked amongst a nation of desperate, hungry, injured and dead. They were part of an international team originally sent to Haiti on a two-week rotation to assist with logistics and food/water distribution. Those two weeks turned into four when it became apparent that their skills were urgently needed for that additional time. It meant being  separated from their spouses, children and grandchildren for longer than had been anticipated. “It was the longest we’ve ever been apart”, said Capt. Crowell. How timely then, that flight arrangements called for the men to return home to their families on Valentine’s Day!  When the men arrived this afternoon at Indpls. International Airport, they were met with flowers, a handmade banner and plenty of hugs and smiles.

While glad to be home and excited to see their loved ones, Capt. Crowell reflected, “There is still lots of work to be done.” Over two million meals have been distributed by The Salvation Army in Haiti, as well as 500,000 gallons of water, tents and other aid. “Having been in Haiti for 60 years and having a footprint there has allowed the Army to make a lot of progress post- earthquake” added Capt. Crowell. “It felt a lot calmer than when we arrived. The people are starting to get back to normal. They’re in survival mode.”

Both Capt. Crowell, and EDS Director Jerry Larsen have served in other worldwide disasters. In comparison to those previous experiences, Larsen says, “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen. They’re going to be dealing with it for a long time.”

Exhausted from what was certainly an emotionally and physically draining time in Haiti, both men described their time with the people with obvious compassion. When asked about his assessment of the spirit of the people in Haiti, Larsen teared up as he stated, “The resilience of the people was amazing…just amazing.”

Local Disaster Service responders will continue to be deployed to Haiti during the recovery period. This week, Lt. Jonathon Fitzgerald from the Bloomington corps left for Port au Prince on a 30-day deployment. The Salvation Army continues to meet needs in Haiti not only with meals and water, but also by treating an average of 300 patients a day at their clinic, which is being staffed by an international team of doctors and nurses.  At the Salvation Army clinic, staff and volunteers were able to witness the first baby being born after the earthquake, and most recently provided the initial treatment for the man who survived 28 days buried in the rubble.

A comprehensive collection of photos of  The Salvation Army’s relief efforts in Haiti can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/salvationarmyindiana/. For further information on The Salvation Army’s work in Haiti visit salvationarmyusa.org.

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